It seems like every other day there is some new chip on the market that promises all the delicious taste of potato chips, amazing extra nutrients, and none of the health concerns of oily, salty potato chips. We’ve heard about kale chips, apple chips, soy crisps, and chips that are still made from potato, but are baked instead of fried. Now it seems like all signs are pointing to a new chip champion: delicious sweet potato chips. And in fact, the cutthroat chip market isn’t the only place the humble sweet potato is showing up.

The New York Times reports that the sweet potato is back, due in part to a nutritional shift caused by more people trying to lose weight. Sweet potatoes were once relegated to the culinary equivalent of a faux cornucopia, enjoying a one-off day of popularity on Thanksgiving and then returning to obscurity. But those times are over. Now you can find sweet potato chips in convenience stores, sweet potato french fries holding court with average french fries, and sweet potato waffles painting breakfast menus orange all across America. That’s good, because sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A, they appear to stabilize blood sugar levels, and they are amazing fiber foods that don’t have any fat and are low in calories.

The Appeal of Sweet Potato Chips

The sweet potato has a lot going for it: it has a delicious creamy texture, it’s a beautiful hue, and it is jam-packed with sweet potato nutrients. So it only makes sense that someone would see fit to chop it up and bake it.  Then people can enjoy it more often than just at Thanksgiving. After all, cooking a sweet potato in the oven is easy. So is making homemade chips. To make your own sweet potato chips, simply thinly slice (as thinly as possible) a sweet potato, then place on a baking sheet and sprinkle with vegetable oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and paprika. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 50 minutes, then flip over and bake for 30 to 40 more minutes. Chips will still be somewhat soft when you take them out of the oven, but you know they are done when the edges are crisp but the centers are still orange.

Sweet potato chips are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tasty nutritious snacks to make with sweet potatoes. Try them in a stir-fry, casseroles, a bisque, by themselves, in a cake, or in a chile. Get creative! Because when it comes to this amazing tuber, the sky is the limit.

Source:

• “Sweet Potatoes Step Out From Under Marshmallows”, The New York Times

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